Protistology 3 (4) 243–250 (2004)
Genetic diversity and relationships between wild and cultivated populations of the sea lettuce, Enteromorpha prolifera, in Korea revealed by RAPD markers Man Kyu Huh 1, Hak Young Lee 2, Bok Kyu Lee 1 and Joo Soo Choi 1 1 Department of Molecular Biology, Dongeui University, The Republic of Korea
Summary RAPD analysis was conducted to estimate genetic diversity and population structure of the wild (natural) and cultivated sea lettuce, Enteromorpha prolifera. The objectives of this study were to estimate the levels of genetic diversity in the wild and cultivated populations and to describe how the genetic variation of this species is distributed within and among its populations. In wild sea lettuce, 93.2% of loci at the species level showed polymorphism. The cultivated populations were found to have fewer alleles per locus (1.20 vs. 1.23), fewer effective alleles per locus (1.37 vs. 1.39), lower percentage of polymorphic locus (37.0 vs. 39.2), and lower gene diversity (0.119 vs. 0.136) than wild populations. These genetic diversity parameters indicate that the cultivated populations are genetically depauperate relative to their presumptive progenitor and the domestication process has eroded the level of genetic variation of this species. Nevertheless, its genetic diversity is higher than average values for species with similar life history. The sexual reproduction, perennial nature, high fecundity, and colonization process are proposed as possible factors contributing to high genetic diversity. Key words: Enteromorpha prolifera, genetic diversity, population structure, sea lettuce | Back to Contents | Load PDF | |